


A Warm Feeling

by Wubstuck123



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beaches, Betrayal, Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:23:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1392610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wubstuck123/pseuds/Wubstuck123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie has always been fairly distant with her friendships, until a little sunshine finds their way into her heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Warm Feeling

Annie walked across the cool, wet sand, feeling it squish between her toes.  
The sun shone down pleasantly on her skin, a warm, kinda fuzzy feeling.  
A small breeze blew across the sandy shoreline. It was cool, and carried the salty sent of the sea before her.  
"Hey! Annie!" A loud voice boomed across the sand.  
Annie's head turned to look over, spying two fairly large boys playing in the surf.  
One was a large, broad shouldered, and well muscled boy with blonde hair.  
The other was a tall, skinnier-built boy with dark fluffy hair.  
"Annie! Come on in, the water's great!" The blonde boy called, beckoning.  
She pretended to ponder it a moment, her small slender fingers raising to her chin, striking a thoughtful pose.  
"Hmmm... I think I'll pass." She replied, making her decision obvious by sitting down on her orange fuzzy beach towel.  
"Aww come on Annie! Don't be such a bore!" The blonde boy argued.  
"No, no, I insist. You two enjoy all of the fun, I'll just sit here and watch" Annie countered, sarcasm laced thick in her tone.  
"Sheesh, alright alright, you can just sit there and look pretty while Bertholdt and I over here enjoy all of the fun. Isn't that right Bertl?" Reiner queried defiantly, patting Bertholdt on the back for emphasis.  
"Uhh, yeah... allllll of the fun" Bertholdt said, his voice sounding a little bit to uneasy and nervous to be anywhere near taunting.   
"Tch. Boys." Annie grumbled to herself quietly.  
Annie sat, her knees tucked up to her chest, on her beach towel, content with watching the waves lap at the shoreline.  
She closed her eyes a moment to listen to the shore's repetitive tune, along with the gentle breeze adding on to the melody.  
She could hear the faint distant cry of seagulls, along with the giggling and laughter of Reiner and Bertholdt splashing each other with water.  
Annie was stirred from her thoughts by a gentle tap on her shoulder.  
She turned to look over her shoulder as to whom was bugging her, along with an icy cold glare to show whomever it was their wrong-doing for disturbing her. She was then met with a pair of brilliant blue eyes, matched with a sweet, innocent, smile.  
A boy around her age and size, with shoulder length blonde hair, stood next to her, two Ice cream cones in hand.  
"Armin? What is it?" She asked curious as to why he would want to talk to her.  
"Hi Annie, umm... is this seat taken?" Armin asked, indicating the space next to her, his expression changing to an awkward smile.  
Annie shook her head, a faint smile spreading across her face.  
"Go for it." She answered.  
"Oh, thanks" He said crouching down and sitting next to her, careful as not to touch her.  
Annie attempted to resume watching the surf crash and slip on and off the shore, before she was interrupted again by Armin.  
"You like vanilla right? Reiner said it was your favorite." He asked, arm extending to offer the vanilla ice cream cone.  
"Hmmm? Oh, thank you" She replied, gently taking the ice cream from Armin's hand. Their hands brushing ever so slightly before Annie retracted hers, ice cream cone in grasp. She turned her head back toward the sea, a faint blush trailing across her cheeks.  
They sat there in silence, watching the water and the others playing and splashing about, enjoying the peace and somewhat quiet around them, licking at their ice cream.  
Annie finally broke the silence asking Armin a question that was nagging at her mind.  
"Why are you hanging out with me instead of Eren and Mikasa?" Annie asked curiously as she casually licked at her ice cream.  
"Huh?" Armin seemed to be caught unprepared for the question, as he paused for a moment before continuing.   
"Well I guess its because you looked pretty lonely over here by yourself and I wanted to give you some company." Armin replied, looking down to conceal the gentle blush making its way across his face.  
Annie looked over at him, surprise apparent across her features.  
"Really? That's why?" Annie asked, not quite convinced.  
Armin just sat there staring out at the sea, blushing like a fool.  
"Maybe..." he muttered quietly.  
She hummed, deciding to leave it at that and to finish her ice cream.  
"Hey um.. Annie? Can I ask you something crazy?" Armin asked, more timid and shy than normal.  
"Sure, like what?" She replied, an eyebrow arching in curiosity.  
"Well... I just wanted to know if... you wanted to- you know... maybe umm... hang out later?" Armin asked, obviously struggling and tripping over each word in the attempt to form the question.  
Annie stared at him for a few moments, her face blank and unreadable.  
The silence made Armin nervous so he opted to quickly cover up his mistake.  
"I mean... it's not like a date or anything I.. I.. was wondering if you wanted to hang out and like go out to eat, or read, or something... or you know, we could not... let's not. This was a stupid idea just pretend I didn't say anything." Armin sputtered, his words came out tangled up in a jumbled heap, leaving behind a trailing wreckage of a sentence, along with awkward laughter.  
"Armin." Annie said, attempting to catch his attention.  
"Oh, uh, yes?" He said, flinching a moment after she spoke.  
"That sounds like fun." She said, allowing a smile to slowly grow across her face.  
"That's okay I didn't think you wou- what? Like yes? As in you want to?" Armin started saying disappointedly before realizing she did infact say yes.  
"To make it clear, Yes Armin, I would very much like to go hang out with you." She clarified.  
"Oh... I... I... thank you Annie." He stammered, his blush changing from a faint red to a bright crimson, making him somewhat akin to a tomato.  
Annie leaned over and rested her head on Armin's shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying the breeze.  
Armin flinched slightly at her unexpected touch, but then deciding to just watch the little puffs of clouds roll by.  
Annie then felt a unfamiliar warm and fuzzy feeling, it felt... surprisingly good. It reminded her of the sun.  
A thought came to her mind, although being a bit cheesy, it actually hit pretty accurately.  
Armin was like her sunshine.

 

Δ~.Stop here if you want to spare your feels, you have been warned.~Δ

 

These memories linger in her mind as she walk toward the place Armin asked her to meet him, a dumb grin on her face.  
She casually walked along the old dirt trail that led out to the ranch in which Armin lived with his Grandfather and little sister.  
The wind blew, making the autumn leaves spring to life and start dancing across the road.  
The wind added a slight chill factor to the otherwise perfect evening but Annie didn't really notice, with her warm hoodie on.   
Turning the familiar corner that led to the house, she spied Armin sitting out on the steps to the porch waiting.  
Her walk hastened slightly in anticipation and excitement for the evening Armin had in store for her,   
He looked up, only just then noticing her.  
"Annie! Hi!" He greeted, getting up and waving, and then started jogging towards her meeting half way.  
He collided into her with little force wrapping her up in a pleasant embrace.  
"Its been forever!" He said, exaggerating as it's only been about 3 days since they last saw each other.  
"Hi Armin, how are you?" Annie asked pleasantly, returning the hug.  
"Great! Come on I wanna show you something!" He said excitedly, tugging on her wrist and dragging her out behind the house.  
After a little ways of half walking half being dragged Annie was then blinded by hands covering her eyes.  
"Reaaaady?" Armin asked, his tone telling that he was about to burst with excitement.   
"Yes, yes , now hurry up and let me see!" Annie insisted in a light hearted whiny tone.  
"Okay, okay, fine." He said, uncovering her eyes.  
The sight before her was breathtaking.  
They stood atop a green grassy hill, that rolled down into the green fields below.   
Next to them stood a large oak tree its branches covered in leaves the colors of fire stretched up into the sky, its roots cascading down the hill side, poking in and out of the ground.  
The moon shone brightly bathing the whole place in moonlight, along with the bright twinkling stars.  
"Wow, Armin... this is incredible!" Annie said in awe.  
"I know right? I've been wanting to bring you out here for a while but the weather's been kinda unpredictable lately, so I couldn't really plan for good weather" Armin replied, looking up at the sky.  
They both stood there taking in the scenery for awhile before being interrupted by a small voice calling from the house.  
"Aaaarmin! Where are you?"   
"Huh? Ah, Over here!" Armin replied, turning and waving toward the small girl, now heading their direction.  
"Hi Annie! Lookie, I made cookies!" The little girl said excitedly.  
"Oh? Hey sweetie. Wow, they smell delicious Arleen" Annie complimented.  
Armin and Annie took one each and tasted the girls cooking.  
"Great job sis" Armin said, mouth still full of cookie.  
"Yeah, it tastes wonderful." Annie agreed.  
"Thank you! I'm gonna go see if grandpa wants some!" Arleen said excitedly.  
"Be careful!" Armin shouted after her as she took of like a bullet back towards the house.  
After that they sat down next to each other at the base of the tree, and gazed up toward the sky.  
It was nice for awhile, until Annie's phone started ringing in her pocket.  
"Huh? Oh sorry, just a minute" She said excusing herself a moment to answer whoever it was that would be calling her.

"Reiner Braun Calling"

Her phone read.  
She huffed, wondering why he would be calling.  
"What?" Annie started in an annoyed tone.  
"Geez, not even a Hello?" Reiner replied.  
"Reiner, what could possibly be so important that you needed to call me at this exact moment?" She continued, ignoring him.  
"Okay, okay, well you see... there has been a slight change in the plan..." He started hesitantly.  
"Like what?" Annie asked, a bit concerned.  
"We have to leave... tonight... for good..." He continued, his voice loosing confidence with each word.  
"WHAT?!" Annie hissed loudly, only remembering afterwards Armin was nearby and could have probably heard that.  
"Listen, the boss wants us out of here before morning, and if we aren't he is going to be madder than a hatter!" Reiner said, his worry now showing in his tone.  
"Why are we leaving tonight of all times?" Annie asked, getting more and more furious with each passing minute.  
"We're hitting the legion in the morning, big time." Was his simple response.  
Annie was silent on the other end, momentarily frozen with realization.  
"Me and Bertl will be at your house in about 2 hours or so, make sure you're ready." He finished.  
"Wait, Reiner- " She started, quickly cut off by the click of the other end disconnecting.  
"Damn!" She cursed quietly.  
"Annie? Is everything okay?" Armin asked hesitantly.  
With a moment's pause Annie then replied.  
"Yeah... everything's great..."   
"You sure? You don't look like everything's alright..." Armin stated, concern in his voice.  
"Honestly it's nothing..." Annie insisted.  
"Uhhh... okay, if you say so" Armin said, unsurely.  
Annie sat back down next to Armin staring out at the beautiful landscape once more.  
Here is where I'm going to have to tell him goodbye, and it's going to hurt, it's gonna hurt bad.  
I can't stick around any longer, I have to leave soon to be able to get everything ready for when Bertholdt and Reiner show up, and honestly it would be dangerous for Armin if I stayed any longer, I don't think I could ever forgive myself if something happened to him. Annie thought.  
"Armin..." she began.  
"Yah?" He said, looking over to her.  
"I'm leaving..." Annie continued.  
"What? Now? But you just got here!?" Armin protested.  
"Armin... I meant I'm leaving town... and...I'm not coming back." She corrected, voice starting to choke up.  
"What!? Annie! No! You can't just up and leave! What about your friends? What about Bertholdt and Reiner? What about me?" Armin exclaimed, his expression changing to a mixture of panic, and disbelief.  
"Bertholdt and Reiner are leaving top..." She stated, her blank expression crumbling away.  
"What?!?! Why are you all leaving? When did you decide you were doing this?" Armin demanded.  
"I didn't decide... they didn't either... we just have to." Annie answered vaguely.  
"Annie! You're not making any sense! You can't just leave everyone! You can't just leave Me!" Armin scolded, his voice raising to angry yelling.  
"Armin... what are you saying? I know we're friends and all but you shouldn't be getting this upset over it."  
"Annie... I...I... no... nononononono you don't understand!" Armin yelled, tears falling down his face.  
"Armin? Please don't cry" Annie asked, concern all over her face.  
"GO AWAY!!! JUST GET OUT OF HERE!!!" Armin demanded, running over towards his home, slamming the door as he disappeared inside.  
"Armin! No... " she breathed, barely able to choke out a sorrowful final farewell.   
"Goodbye, Armin..."

 

"Traitor!" Eren yelled angrily towards Annie.  
Annie was cornered, back against an alleyway wall, and surrounded by those she'd once called her friends, she had been hunted down by the Legion, a secret military force designed and used to find, hunt, and kill, people like her... these were most likely her final moments.  
"How could you!? I thought we were friends!" Eren shouted accusingly.  
"Eren quiet down, your breath is wasted on scum like her." Mikasa said, attempting to silence her adoptive brother.  
"Annie... I sincerely hoped that this wasn't how it would have to end, but it seems like you have proven that you are in fact the monster that I hoped you weren't. How do you excuse killing those people? They had families, friends, hopes, dreams! And you crushed all of it for them! " Armin accused.  
"What do you have to say for yourself?!" His accusation continued.  
Eren and Mikasa, their hatred and disappointment she could live with and never have to think about again... but Armin's was a entirely different story.  
"Armin... Since when did you start looking at me with those eyes? I am honestly and truly sorry it turned out like this... I just hope you can forgive me." Annie said, sorrow laced throughout her plea.  
"It's too late for apologies now Annie, now is the time where I run my blade straight through that black and evil heart of yours!" Mikasa spat, venom dripping from her words.  
Annie breathed out a sigh, mentally preparing for when that crazy chick holds up to her word.  
Suddenly as if as a sign from the beyond, a grenade rolled into the alleyway, behind the Slaying Legion cadets.  
*BOOM*  
A loud blast of smoke explodes out of the grenade obscuring sight in a matter of seconds.  
"What is this? Damn! Don't let her get away!" Eren started shouting through the sound of the three of them coughing in the smoke.  
Annie took her chance to quickly maneuver her way through the smoke, the mouth of the alleyway only a few feet away.   
"Annie, Stop!" Armin shouted, standing in front of her barring her exit.

 

You have no other choice...  
In a life or death situation, you have to make the hard choices fast, and hope you won't regret them.  
She doesn't slow in her charge towards the exit.  
A small glint shines through the smoke, reflecting off a dagger she had pulled out of a secret sheath concealed in her jacket.  
"Annie! Stop!" Armin tried again to stop her, realizing he will have to engage the opponent.  
You have to do this... there is no other way.  
Her charge goes straight towards him, her speed exceeding his by far.  
Before he has a chance to defend her attack, she hits him with a finishing blow, a dagger right between the lungs, straight into his beating, human heart.  
"I'm sorry Armin...Goodbye" Was the last thing she said to him, before leaving the dagger, and running to freedom.  
She can hear Armin behind her, coughing and sputtering up blood, his comrades rushing to his aid in no time.  
She feels a warm feeling... though this time... it's Armin's blood on her hands instead of his smile in her heart.  
Her chest aches... but she has no time to worry herself with regret, right now she must escape.  
"I'm sorry Armin..." She whisper to herself.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my first fic's so please do enjoy uvu  
> Let me know if their are any mistakes x


End file.
